Frost resistant window sash

ABSTRACT

Modern double-pane window sash is a good thermal insulator, but is commonly set into a metal frame which conducts heat readily and causes frost formation in cold weather. Various forms of extruded plastic covering for such metal frames are described, which can be attached to the metal frames very easily and with a minimum of labor.

7 United States atet 1191 1111 3,918,231 Kessler Nov. 11, 1975 [541FROST RESISTANT WINDOW SASH 3,411,247 11/1968 Fleming 52/616 3,418,75512/1968 Di Chiaro 49/501 [76] Inventor Gerald Kessle" 388 Qmnberry3,455,080 7/1969 Meadows 52/628 Road, Boardman/ Ohio 44512 3,527,0119/1970 Bloom et al. 49/504 3,732,659 5/1973 LaBarge 52/400 [22] 19733,798,869 3/1974 Nipp 52/743 [21] Appl' 41545" FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS Related U121 Applicafifln Data 1,040,221 2/1958 Germany52/402 [63] Continuation of Se lio. 226,581, Feb. 15, 1972,

abandoned Primary E.\'aminerJames L. Ridgill, Jr. [5'2] U S C 52/62852/308 52/476 Attorney, Agent, or FirmMax L. Libman 527398; 52/501;52/616; 49/501 5 A TRA T [51] Int. C1.2 E04C 2/00; E068 l/32 7] B S C[58] Field Of Search 49/501; 52/398, 400, 628, Modem dubleipane a goodthermal 52/616 307 308 402 501 476 insulator, but is commonly set into ametal frame which conducts heat readily and causes frost forma- [56]References Cited tion in cold weather. Various forms of extruded plasticcovering for such met'al frames are described, which UNITED STATESPATENTS can be attached to the metal frames very easily and 2.228.3581/1941 Lowry.... 52/398 f] b I 2,701,041 2/1955 T6111 52/398 W1 a mmlmuma or 2,928.144 3/1960 Persson 52/398 1 Drawlng gur s I K 4 I g//////////'L/ 30 Z 52 posite sides of the door or window, such as home use incold climates during the winter time, or in show-case type refrigeratorssuch as are used in stores forfrozen foodproducts, the glassportion isoftencomprised of a doublepane structure for insulatingpurposes, but thealuminum frame conducts heat very readily, and tends to defeat thedesired insulating qualities of the door by conducting an excessiveamount of heat from the warm side to the cold side, also, in mostsituations frost tends to form on the warm side of the glass due tocondensation of moisture coming in contact with the cold metal member.Attempts have been made,to overcome this drawback by providing acombination of metal and plastic frame, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No.3,305,999 to Bohn, and US. Pat. No. 3,302,354 to Mermell. However, thesestructures are either relatively complicated and expensive to fabricate,or else require a considerable amount of labor to assemble, both ofwhich add greatly to the cost of the final product. The presentinvention solves this problem by providing a simple extruded plasticcovering for the aluminum frame, and particularly for application to theinterior side of the frame, which can be readily assembled without toolsby unskilled labor, at a great saving in cost. In accordance with theinvention, the aluminum channel into which the glass window pane is set,is provided with a fairly deep longitudinally extending slot, at leastone interior surface of which is roughened or grooved so as to retain abarb which is an integral part of an extruded plastic covering for theframe, so that the barbed portion need only to be inserted into the slotin order to fix the insulating plastic frame-covering extrusion onto thewindow.

The specific nature of the invention, as well as other objects andadvantages thereof, will clearly appear from a description of apreferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a window embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3-6 inclusive shown views similar to FIG. 2, of differentmodifications of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a window sash 2, although it will be apparent that the sameconstruction may be employed in house doors of the sliding type,refrigerator display windows or doors, and so forth. The window sashglass 4 is mounted in frame 6, the outer portion of which, 8, is made ofaluminum in order to provide the necessary strength and rigidity to theassembly. As best seen in FIG. 2, the inner portion of the window frameis a plastic extrusion, which is made by the usual process of extrudinga suitable grade of plastic material through a die, and cutting it intosuitable lengths. The plastic extrusion is preferably placed on the nearside of the window, in the case of a house window, or it would be placedon the outer side of a refrigerator show case window, since it should beon the warm side in order to act effectively as a thermal barrier. Theplastic extrusion is made, 'as shown in FIG. 2, in the form of a L(shown inverted in FIG. 2 because of the direction from which itisviewed) having a long leg 12 and a short bottom leg 14, which could beomitted as far as the structural or mechanical aspect of the frame isconcerned, but which is preferably added because it serves as a thermalbreak between the bottom of the aluminum frame 8 and the metal channelinto which such windows are usually inserted. The glass pane 16 is shownas a conventionaldouble-pane glass window.

, In assembling the sash, the aluminum extrusion 8 is applied to the window as shown in FIG. 2, with a layer of suitable adhesive or sealer 18to prevent moisture from .creeping iritothe interior between thealuminum and the glass. This is done (man four sides, and the cornersare, suitably securedin any desired known fashion, such as by screws, orcorner fasteners of any known type. It will be noted that ,the aluminumextrusion is provided with a deep slot 20 provided with longitudinallyextending corrugations 22, and the plastic extrusion is provided with aninwardly extending leg 24 having at its end a ridge or barb 26dimensioned to enter into one of the corrugations 22. The leg 24 ispreferably slightly biased toward the bottom leg 14 so that when theplastic extrusion is fitted to the frame, the aluminum and plasticmembers are held firmly together, with the glass 16 retained betweentheir upper portions as best shown in FIG. 2. The elements aredimensioned and fitted so that a fair amount of force is required toengage them, and also therefore to disengage them if it becomesnecessary to replace the glass due to breakage.

FIG. 3 shows a modification generally similar to that shown in FIG. 2,but with the additional feature of a ridge of soft plastic material 24provided at the top of element 12 corresponding to element 12 of FIG. 2.This is formed by dual extrusion, which is well known per se, and isadded in order to improve the seal between the plastic portion and theglass pane, and also to minimize the possibility of moisture enteringinto the frame, such as could occur from condensation underexceptionally severe temperature conditions.

FIG. 4 shows still another modification in which the interlock betweenthe aluminum and plastic members is provided by a bottom slot 30 in theoutermost side of the edge-engaging metal frame member into which thebarbed member 32 extends from the corresponding edge portion of theplastic member. This has the advantage that lateral force on the windowis not resisted solely by the engagement of the barb with the ridges,but is resisted by the structure of the leg 32 itself. In this case,instead of a barb and ridges, it would be possible to use merelysomewhat roughened surfaces which would provide adequate engagement.This assembly would also be easier to remove when necessary by merelysliding the plastic member in the plane of the glass but away from theframe. The same is also true of the construction shown in FIG. 6, wherethe extrusion is simply in the form of a U-shaped channel membercovering the entire bottom of the frame, and provides thermal protectionon both sides of the window. In this case, the retaining force can beprovided simply by two matching roughened or linearly corrugatedsections as shown at 34.

FIG. 5 shows a modification in which there is added to essentially thestructure of FIG. 2, an outer cover plate 36 of plastic also fittinginto a second slot 38 in the aluminum by means of a leg and barbarrangement 40. It will be noted that the arrangements of FIGS. 5 and 6scrve also to provide a decorative function since the plastic may be inany color, and obviates the need for painting the aluminum portion ifdesired.

I claim:

1. A frame construction for insulating and holding double-pane glasspanels used as insulation between a cold space and a warm space, saidframe construction comprising b. a unitary, extruded metal frame memberhaving a glass engaging strip portion shaped to extend against and incontact with a substantial area of the cold side of an encloseddouble-glass pane adjacent an edge thereof, and an edge-retaining frameelement extending generally at right angles to said strip portion forengaging the edge of such glass pane,

c. a unitary extruded rigid plastic frame member having a glass-engagingstrip portion for extending against the warm side of an enclosed glasspane opposite to the side engaged by said metal frame member so that adouble-pane glass panel will be held between said members near the edgethereof, said plastic member having an edge portion extending at rightangles to said strip portion and overlying the outermost portion of theedge-engaging metal frame member,

(1. means for fastening said metal frame member and said plastic framemember together comprising a bottom slot extending from the outermostside of the edge-engaging element of the metal member perpendicular tothe plane of the edge of the glass pane, and a mating locking stripintegral with said plastic member and engaged in said slot, said lockingstrip having a barb at one end thereof, and said slot having a ridgedsurface engagable by said barb to retain the locking strip in the slot,with a portion of the said metal frame element engaged between saidlocking strip and the glass-engaging strip portion of the plastic framemember to thereby hold said plastic frame member and said metal framemember together.

1. A frame construction for insulating and holding double-pane glasspanels used as insulation between a cold space and a warm space, saidframe construction comprising b. a unitary, extruded metal frame memberhaving a glass engaging strip portion shaped to extend against and incontact with a substantial area of the cold side of an encloseddoubleglass pane adjacent an edge thereof, and an edge-retaining frameelement extending generally at right angles to said strip portion forengaging the edge of such glass pane, c. a unitary extruded rigidplastic frame member having a glassengaging strip portion for extendingagainst the warm side of an enclosed glass pane opposite to the sideengaged by said metal frame member so that a double-pane glass panelwill be held between said members near the edge thereof, said plasticmember having an edge portion extending at right angles to said stripportion and overlying the outermost portion of the edgeengaging metalframe member, d. means for fastening said metal frame member and saidplastic frame member together comprising a bottom slot extending fromthe outermost side of the edge-engaging element of the metal memberperpendicular to the plane of the edge of the glass pane, and a matinglocking strip integral with said plastic member and engaged in saidslot, said locking strip having a barb at one end thereof, and said slothaving a ridged surface engagable by said barb to retain the lockingstrip in the slot, with a portion of the said metal frame elementengaged between said locking strip and the glass-engaging strip portionof the plastic frame member to thereby hold said plastic frame memberand said metal frame member together.